Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Jude, Raven, and Janet belong to pnx626 of deviantart.
Children of Lies
Chapter Nine: A Boy Finds Out
March quickly sped into April, which meant that the Easter Holidays were just around the corner. Albus had been excited to go home to his family for two weeks, but found his workload to be rapidly increasing. All of his teachers were assigning much more than usual in preparation for the finals and Albus feared that traveling home wouldn't be an option. When confronting Scorpius on the matter, the blonde said, "Of course I'm staying, Al. We have finals in about two months! I'll be seeing my family after the term ends, anyway." The same reaction was received from Rose. On the other hand, the Zabini twins said, "Our parents will kill us if we don't come home," and Jude said, "With everyone here mostly studying? No way!" Albus knew, that without a doubt, James would be staying, and after asking Louis, he figured that most of his family would be staying as well. With resignation, Albus decided that Scorpius was right and that he would probably have to stay as well.
Just as he feared, more homework than Albus had ever expected was dumped on him the day before Easter break. Completely worn out, he stumbled back to the common room at the end of the day, looking forward to a nice nap. A day of hearing, "Here's your homework for the break; I expect you to work hard studying for your finals in the two weeks you have off from class," had completely worn him out. Next to him, Scorpius stumbled along, looking less tired and more determined to start work as soon as possible.
"Al! Scorpius! I was just looking for you two!" called Rose, and the two boys turned their heads to look at the nearing Ravenclaw girl.
"Hi, Rosie," grinned Albus. "You were looking for us?"
Rose nodded and said, "A few of the other Ravenclaws and I want to get together to study for finals over the break some time. Please say you'll come, too!"
"I'd love to, Rose. The more the merrier, right?" answered Scorpius with a slight smile.
"I'll be there, too! I need all the help I can get; you know I'm bollocks at Charms and History of Magic!" said Albus.
"Yay! Thank you! I'm so happy you're coming!" gasped Rose.
"When is it going to be, anyway?" asked Scorpius.
Rose blushed and said, "We don't know yet, but it'll be some time next week. I'll tell you both when us Ravenclaws figure it out."
"Is it going to be in the library?" asked Albus.
Rose shook her head. "Probably not. The weather is so nice; it would be a crime to study inside!"
"Thanks for the invitation, Rose. We'll be there. Unfortunately, Al looks like he's going to fall on his face in exhaustion. It's best if we both head off. See you later, Rose," said Scorpius.
Rose nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Rosie," called Albus and followed Scorpius away from his cousin. When he was sure Rose was out of earshot, he said, "See, Scor? She doesn't hate you."
"I guess you're right. I still don't understand her previous behavior, though," sighed Scorpius.
"She was probably just warming up to you. I mean, you are a Slytherin who isn't her wonderful and amazing cousin," pointed out Albus.
"'Wonderful and amazing cousin'? You can't be talking about yourself, can you?" laughed Scorpius.
Albus grew red. "Of course! I'm the best Potter-Weasley in Slytherin,"
Scorpius laughed and said, "You don't have much competition, you know."
"Are you questioning my greatness, Scor?" question Albus, skeptically.
Scorpius looked at his friend in mock shock. "Why, I'd never! Not the great Albus Severus Potter, who is the son of the great Harry Potter and is a large prat."
Albus smiled in response and sarcastically said, "Well, one of us thinks you're funny."
Climbing in the common room, Albus made a beeline to that nearest couch, crashing onto it and nuzzling his face into the cushions. "So fluffy and warm," mumbled Albus. Scorpius moved to sit in the armchair next to the couch, a smile for his friend's mannerisms on his face. Albus picked his head up and looked at Scorpius. "I pray you're not planning to do homework right now. I'm way too tired."
Scorpius chuckled and said, "No, not today. I like to relax, too, just so you know."
"But tomorrow you'll be right back to the books, right?" grumbled Albus.
Scorpius grinned. "You know me so well."
A few days later, Scorpius and Albus were making their way to the courtyard. Scorpius had picked up a few of his homework assignments that he wanted to discuss with the Ravenclaws. Albus, on the other hand, grabbed everything in his reach, figuring that studying with the Ravenclaws was a great time to possibly relieve some of his workload. Walking into the courtyard, the two boys saw Rose, Janet, and a Ravenclaw boy huddled together. Seeing them approach, Rose raised her arm and waved them other. "Al! Scorpius! Over here!" The Ravenclaws made room for the Slytherins and the group huddled together, getting ready for a productive study session.
"Al, Scorpius, this is Janet and Cedric. Janet, Cedric, this is my cousin, Al, and his friend, Scorpius," introduced Rose. Greetings were exchanged between the four of them.
"So, what are we working on?" asked Albus.
"Potions," answered Cedric, chewing on his quill. "We're all having a bit of trouble with the assignment." Albus nodded and he and Scorpius pulled out Magical Drafts and Potions as well as some parchment from their bags. Professor Slughorn had assigned his students a long essay on Forgertfulness Potions. After a few minutes of silent scribbling, Cedric picked his head up and said, "This textbook doesn't have enough information. I'm going to head to the library."
"Oh, I'll go. I was going to go later for a book, anyway. Just give me a title," offered Scorpius.
"Anything on potions that might help with this essay is fine," answered Cedric.
Scorpius nodded and stood up, reaching for his stuff and cramming it into his bag. Albus looked up at him and said, "I'll come with you, too."
"Why?" asked Scorpius looking oddly at his friend. "Weren't you having trouble with the assignment?"
"I can't copy off of you if you're not here," joked Albus.
Scorpius shoved Albus playfully. "Fine. You can come, but you're not copying off me."
Scorpius and Albus walked back to the castle and made their way over to the library. On their way, they had to dodge Peeves' water balloons. Scorpius wasn't fast enough and one ended up hitting him on the back of his neck. Dripping wet, Scorpius made it to the library with Albus trailing behind him and the two boys quickly ducked behind a shelf. Albus made sure no one was around and, when he was sure the coast was clear, peeled off his sweater and passed it to Scorpius.
"What are you doing?" demanded Scorpius.
"Put that on or you're going to freeze," ordered Albus. "I'll be fine in just this shirt."
"If you're sure," said Scorpius, taking the garment. Albus turned away and started looking for some books as Scorpius pulled off his wet clothes. He donned the sweater and shoved the soaked shirt and sweater into his bag. Then, he walked over to Albus to help him look. After some time, the two boys were able to create a decent pile of potions books and carried them over to a table. The two of them flipped through the books, attempting to find something that they could bring back to the Ravenclaws.
Half way through the books, Albus picked his head up to look at Scorpius. "Have you ever been in the Restricted Section?" he whispered.
"Of course not. It's called the Restricted Section, after all," replied Scorpius He closed the book he was looking at and said, "This one's good."
"Well, why don't we look inside? Maybe they have some really good books in there," offered Albus, pulling out his invisibility cloak.
"When have you ever cared about good informational books that weren't about Quidditch?" challenged Scorpius.
"Okay, never, but it's the Restricted Section," pointed out Albus. "Don't you want to see what's in there?"
Scorpius rolled his yes and said, "Okay, fine. Lets go, but only for the Potions grade."
Grinning, Albus pulled on the cloak and Scorpius slipped under. They inched towards the Restricted Section and slowly pulled open the door. They arrived at the first shelf of books and noticed that many of them didn't have the title on the cover. Shrugging, Albus randomly reached for a random book and pulled it under the cloak. Scorpius leaned over Albus' shoulder and a shiver ran down the brunet's back as the blonde's wet hair tickled his neck.
"Can you back up a bit? Your hair's still wet," demanded Albus. Scorpius blushed and apologized, backing up about a foot. Their attention returned to the book in Albus' hand, the title being Fifteenth-Century Fiends. The first years flipped through it, in awe of the amazing moving pictures. They even stopped and read some of the pages. After about five minutes of being completely engrossed with the book, Albus forced himself to pull away and regrettably put it back on the shelf. "Lets keep moving. I want to look at more books."
"Al, excited about books? This is a new development," mocked Scorpius.
"These aren't just books, Scor! These are restricted books," retorted Albus, completely serious. "Come on! Lets keep going!"
The two of them walked farther into the section and a pink binding caught Albus' eye. Reaching up, Albus pulled it under the cloak and flipped it open excitedly without checking the cover. Instantly, he regretted it. On the top of the right page, the headline read, "Gay Doesn't Just Mean Happy." On the left was a moving picture of two shirtless, good-looking men locked in an embrace, leaning forward into a kiss. Instantly, Albus' face turned bright red and Scorpius became tense behind him, his breath suddenly feeling very hot on Albus' neck.
"Al, wha-" began Scorpius, but was cut short with Albus slamming the book close, its title, Wizard & Witch Sexuality, clearly shown on the cover. Albus fumbled with the book and shakily was able to shove it back on the shelf. Both boys suddenly found it hard to look at each other and felt as though the other one was too close.
"Lets get out of here," suggested Albus. Scorpius couldn't have agreed more if he tried and they shuffled out as fast as they could. When they finally escaped the Restricted Section, much slower than either of them liked, Albus ripped off the cloak and moved to stand away from Scorpius.
"Albus, what was that?" asked Scorpius, his face still slightly red.
"I don't want to talk about it," snapped Albus, his face much redder than his friend's.
"But-"
"I don't want to talk about it!" screamed Albus and heads whipped around to stare at them; the librarian yelled at them to be quiet. Scorpius, embarrassed of his friend, stuck his head into one of the books.
"We should probably take these to the group outside," suggested Scorpius, desperate to change the topic if it meant Albus could stay quiet.
"You can go ahead. I'm suddenly not in the mood for group studying. I'm going to head back to our common room. You have fun with everyone else," said Albus.
"Are you sure?" Didn't you say you needed help?" asked Scorpius.
"I'm sure. See you later, I guess," said Albus. He picked up his bag and quickly walked out of the library, leaving Scorpius confused.
When Scorpius found Albus later, the brunet was curled up in an armchair in the common room. A few books were splayed open on the floor, but it was clear that Albus had done little with them. "Are you okay? You've been acting weird since the libaray," asked Scorpius.
Albus started and stared at Scorpius with wide eyes. "Scor! When did you get here?"
"I just walked in," deadpanned Scorpius.
"Oh right," chuckled Albus, embarrassed.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"I'm just tired, Scor. That's all," answered Albus, sinking into the armchair.
"I just wanted to know what all that was back at the library. The book was pretty weird; we shouldn't have gone in there," admitted Scorpius.
"You're acting like my sister! It's, frankly, pissing me off!" screamed Albus.
"Do you suddenly hate me, Al? Is this what this is about?" whispered Scorpius, hurt written all over his face.
"No! No, Scor! I don't hate you! I could never hate you!" gasped Albus. Then, his head fell into his hands. "I'm just so confused."
"Confused? About what?" asked Scorpius, moving to stand over Albus.
"That book we saw in the Restricted Section. It just… it confused me," mumbled Albus.
Scorpius looked at Albus strangely. Then, he kneeled down next to his friend and whispered in his ear, "Al, are you saying you might be gay?"
Albus grew bright red and turned to stare at his friend in shock. "No. No way! Of course I'm not, Scor! Don't joke about that!"
Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin! You had me worried there!" he grinned. Then, he lost his gleeful expression and said, "but what's the matter then?"
Albus stared seriously at his friend and said, "Gay people."
"Gay people?" asked Scoripius, confused.
Albus nodded and confirmed, "Gay people."
"What about them?" questioned Scorpius completely baffled.
"I don't understand them, not really. I mean, I think Jamie is being tortured by a gay man every week in the Room of Requirement, but my dad always told me about his godfather and Teddy's dad and how happy and in love those two were," explained Albus. "Are gay people bad or not?"
Scorpius pondered what Albus said. "I don't know, Al. I never really thought about it. I thought they always just existed and never gave them much thought. Kind of like toast," he admitted. "Wait, your brother is being tortured by a gay man! How do you know?"
"He told me," said Albus, serious. In his head, he added, "Well, not really…"
Scorpius gasped, "This is horrible! What do we do?"
"I don't know, Scor, but I need to figure things out! I need to understand gay people so I can save my brother!" insisted Albus. "Kind of like a Prince saving his Princess except not really because James is my brother and not a girl!"
Scorpius grasped Albus' hand and stared deeply into his friend's eyes. "I'll help you, Al! We'll understand gay people together and then we'll save your brother!"
Albus grasped Scorpius' hand in both of his and said, "Together, my friend! I'll gladly read through every book in the library if it means saving my brother!"
"Yes!" cried Scorpius. "We will travel to the library! But first, lets find some gay people!"
To Be Continued…
A/N: Here we are at a completely ridiculous development in the story. And yes, I made Sirius/Remus a thing. I couldn't not write in my OTP.
I worried needlessly; my first day of school has been postponed for Tuesday. I'll be seeing you all next Friday, hopefully. Please review; I want to know what you all think.